Rebels admit raiding farm in Bukidnon

DAVAO CITY – The New People’s Army (NPA) owned up to attacking late Sunday afternoon a plantation allegedly owned by pineapple company Del Monte Philippines in Quezon, Bukidnon.

NPA spokesperson Ka Malem Mabini said the raid was carried out by rebel forces from the South Central Bukidnon Subregional Command.

The acknowledgement came after Police Senior Investigator Jessel Longakit, spokesperson of the PNP Provincial Command, confirmed on Monday reports that a warehouse owned by the Davao Agri-venture Corporation was burned down by “armed men.”

Longakit said the suspects disarmed the guards before entering the area around 4:30 pm.

Allegedly, the culprits also torched agro-industrial farm equipment and machinery.

Longakit said they are still waiting for the progress report from the Quezon Municipal Police Station to determine the cost of damage.

They are also waiting confirmation of reports about the rebels supposedly taking the firearms of security personnel guarding the plantation.